Chapter Eighty: The Gourd Child

After Zhang Shan entered Wolf Slope, he first cleared out the wild wolves near the entrance. Then he carefully mapped out his escape route for later. It was impossible for him alone to block the entrance—there were five or six hundred people, and even the great boss Wolf King couldn’t do that.

All he needed was to make a stand at the entrance, deliver a blow to intimidate Eastern Sea Dragon King, and then run into the pack of wolves. His red boots gave him speed; the wild wolves stood no chance of catching him, and most of the people from Traversing Four Seas couldn’t keep up either.

Of course, since Eastern Sea Dragon King dared to invade across cities, they surely had some skill—many high-level players, no doubt. Perhaps not only red boots, but even those fully equipped in red gear, though such people wouldn't be too plentiful. As long as Zhang Shan could draw them out and run a distance, he could scatter their ranks. So long as they weren’t grouped in dozens, Zhang Shan could defeat them one by one.

Once his Berserk and Frenzy skills were unleashed, his attack speed was at least twice that of other hunters, several times faster than other classes. With his 3,800 attack power, frequent critical hits, and passive effects, he could fell an opponent in two or three seconds at most. What did numbers matter? He could wipe them out in minutes.

While Zhang Shan was planning his tactics, Eastern Sea Dragon King’s side was also discussing their strategy. It wasn’t that they feared they couldn’t beat Zhang Shan with their numbers. Rather, Eastern Sea Dragon King sought the most advantageous outcome for himself.

"Dragon Slayer Blade, you’ve fought Six-Barrel Bodhisattva before. What’s the best way to deal with him?"

"Rushing him all at once is best. Six-Barrel Bodhisattva’s attack is high and his speed is extraordinary. If there are too few people, you can’t even get close."

"Oh? Is he really that formidable?"

"It’s not just Bodhisattva—it’s that divine weapon he carries. We have to swarm him."

"Tomorrow night we have the guild battle against Storm Guild. Do you think we could force Six-Barrel Bodhisattva to get a red name, send him back to the city, and lock him up until the guild battle, so he’s stuck in the black room?"

That was Eastern Sea Dragon King’s true intention. Although he was confident in defeating Storm Guild in the guild battle, if he could eliminate Zhang Shan ahead of time, so much the better.

"It’s doable, but we’ll have to sacrifice a lot of people."

"Yeah, boss, it’s only ten o’clock now. There are over thirty hours until tomorrow night at eight. Are we really going to let Bodhisattva kill over thirty of us?"

"It doesn’t matter if we die. We have six supports with revival skills; anyone who falls can be resurrected and won’t lose experience."

"Alright, let’s do it. Let Six-Barrel Bodhisattva enjoy his killing spree, and when he’s locked up in the black room for dozens of hours, he’ll have nowhere to cry. Heh heh."

"Boss, Storm Guild’s main force is following us. What should we do?"

"Ignore them. Storm Under Heaven and his core group are still running dungeons. The rest are rabble—not worth worrying about."

"We should guard against them, though. There are hundreds."

"Fine, allocate some to watch them, and the rest go in and chop down Six-Barrel Bodhisattva."

"Exactly—what’s there to fear? We brought over six hundred people. To deal with Bodhisattva, fewer would suffice, but the numbers are to handle Storm Guild’s others."

Eastern Sea Dragon King led his main force closer to Wolf Slope, while Zhang Shan waited silently at the map’s entrance.

“World broadcast: This is Dangyang City. A great battle is about to begin. Eastern Sea Dragon King has led his troops to Wolf Slope. Next relay, please.”

“World broadcast: This is Dangyang City. Storm Guild has assembled their main force to assist, but Storm Under Heaven and other core members are not present—likely still raiding dungeons. Next relay.”

“Haha, luckily I chose the Chu nation—I can come to Dangyang City and watch the battle.”

“Carefree King, what are you laughing about? Watch out, or Eastern Sea Dragon King might chop you down as well.”

“Do you think I’m afraid of him?”

“Who knows who fears whom?”

Eastern Sea Dragon King’s force arrived outside Wolf Slope, while Zhang Shan waited at the entrance. In truth, Zhang Shan was fully aware of Traversing Four Seas’ movements—not just through guild thieves reporting to him, but also from those broadcasting live updates in the world channel, providing information on Eastern Sea Dragon King’s side.

“Send in thirty-five glass-cannon classes first. Let Six-Barrel Bodhisattva kill them, one by one—don’t scare him off.”

“Heh heh, let him enjoy the kills, then we’ll all rush in together and take him down instantly.”

Zhang Shan waited quietly at the entrance. Suddenly, an archer appeared before him. Without much thought, he shot him down.

Hmm? Why was a glass-cannon class the first to enter?

No time for Zhang Shan to ponder. Another ice mage entered Wolf Slope; he shot him down as well.

As each fragile class fell beneath Zhang Shan’s gun, he gradually understood Eastern Sea Dragon King’s malicious intent. They wanted him to become a red-named player.

What was so terrible about a red name? Just yesterday he’d chopped over a hundred from Heaven and Earth Guild. Yet he’d cleared his red status in less than a day.

As for Eastern Sea Dragon King’s plan to force him into red status and send him back to the city, Zhang Shan hadn’t considered it. But even if he had, he would’ve called it childish. Would he give them that chance? They were dreaming.

Traversing Four Seas’ members were like the seven brothers from the gourd tale, marching one by one into Zhang Shan’s line of fire. Zhang Shan ignored their motives—he simply shot them down. As for whether their supports would revive them, he didn’t worry; once he’d felled enough, they couldn’t save them all.

“Alright, Six-Barrel Bodhisattva’s crime value is high enough. Time to send him back to the city and keep him locked up until tomorrow night.”

“North Sea Dragon King, you go first. You have over forty thousand health—stand there and let him attack, it’ll take a while. The others follow and go in together.”

North Sea Dragon King was a guardian warrior, like the secretary, lavishly equipped with over forty thousand health. Even standing still, it would take normal players a minute or two to cut him down.

Zhang Shan stood guard at the entrance and saw a guardian warrior enter, shield raised.

Were they coming for real now?

Zhang Shan quickly fired at North Sea Dragon King, ready to flee. The guardian rushed ahead; the main force would soon follow. He had no intention of facing hundreds alone.

Two shots—on the second, a Divine Strike triggered, and North Sea Dragon King with his forty thousand health toppled instantly.

“Fried.”

Immediately, two or three hundred players surged at the entrance. Without a second thought, Zhang Shan turned and bolted.

What a joke—they actually swarmed him. He’d thought these big shots would care about their reputation and challenge him one-on-one. How unsporting! Better run first—let’s see if they have the guts to chase.